"Dinner"

Despite what you might think of Test Icicles or Lightspeed Champion, Devonté Hynes knows how to pick his collaborators, from Solange Knowles to Van Dyke Parks. As Blood Orange, he's teamed up with producer Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and taken a hard left into pulsating paisley soul, territory Taylor is all too familiar with from his work with Twin Shadow and Jamie Lidell. "Dinner" poises itself as an upbeat, Prince-leaning summer jam. The beat stomps in with Hynes' half-moan sounding affectedly heartbroken, and before several varieties of airy synth fold into the mix. He's singing about trying to call someone, and now he's drinking in the afternoon-- there's a breakup song hiding behind that R&B thump.

But what at first sounds like a simple "Why aren't you picking up the phone?" song turns into something darker. "Hoping that you die unhappy/ I'll do everything I can/ To make sure that you are never happy," croons Hynes. It's melodramatic but oddly realistic-- painful breakups can make people say terrible stuff. The mood of the song seems downright bleak at the end compared to the playful intro, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly when that change occurs, and the seamless transition makes Hynes' moody dance tune all the more impressive.